Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Social implications of Arthur Miller
Essay on Ideology
Arthur Miller's influence
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Being prepared to look for signs of witchcraft or any other unnatural causes, Reverend Hale sets down his books and says “they are weighted with authority” (1.1.932-933).
Reverend Hale connects to the theme of ideology since he is an authority figure who supports the church/court by investigating any signs of witchcraft.
By looking at The Crucible by Arthur Miller, one can see that the characterization of Reverend Hale reveals the theme of ideology, which is important because he is an expert witchhunter and authority figure who investigates the witchcraft accusations.
Ideology motivates Reverend Hale to investigate the witchcraft accusations to make sure that the devil is not attacking Salem. Reverend Parris calls for Reverend Hale so that he may
…show more content…
Furious with the people in court for allowing the girls to manipulate and strike fear into their hearts, Hale shouts aloud: “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!” (3.1.1499-1500). Hale felt the court was weak and the people in it in dismay. Wanting to save Elizabeth’s husband(John Proctor) from being hanged, Hale says, “I would save your husband’s life, for if he is taken I count myself his murderer” (4.1.423-425). Hale sought to save Elizabeth’s husband or else he would feel guilty/responsible for his hanging.
Conclusion: By looking at The Crucible by Arthur Miller, one can see that the characterization of Reverend Hale reveals the theme of ideology, which is important because he is an expert witchhunter and authority figure who investigates the witchcraft accusations. But as the story goes on, Hale changes and seeks to help save people that have been falsely accused of witchcraft. For example: today in a white supremacist community they have the ideology that if you are not white, then you are not good enough; this is referring that people who are not white cannot be
Hale is an intellectual man who takes pride in his ability to detect witchcraft. He was called to Salem to analyze their situation. "This is a beloved errand for him; on being called here to ascertain witchcraft he felt the pride of one specialist whose unique knowledge has at least been publically called for."
The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, is set in Salem, Massachusetts. The hysteria begins with suspicion that a group of teenage girls found dancing in the forest are guilty of witchcraft. The reverend of Salem then calls on Reverend Hale, who hails from Beverly, to come ascertain the truth. Threatened with severe punishment girls tell lies that Satan had possessed them and falsely accuse others of working with the Devil. One of the girls has an infatuation with John Proctor, a married man, and her determination to get rid of his innocent wife, Elizabeth fuels the hysteria. Reverend Hale is a unique character because he is both a catalyst and a preventer of this hysteria. His main character flaw, like many a people, is failure to defend his beliefs. In order to characterize Hale as a naïve outsider, Miller shows Hale as misled because he defends the justness of the court and later as guilt-ridden because he realizes the court is false.
Reverend John Hale is motivated by honor and righteousness, but at the same time by reputation and pride. He is certain about the witchery in Salem and while having doubts refuses to speak up. Hale before the executions start to get out of hand is all for the witchery theory and absolutely believes that the girls are telling the truth. Hale’s wavers on the witchery theory after his talk with John Proctor. Hale realizing his error decides to say nothing out of pride and worry for his credibility. In essence he starts to question his own certainty about the situation. Hale’s motivation slowly changes as the executions continue. Hale’s motivation changes from pride and reputation to honor and righteousness. This is especially evident when he quits and breaks all affiliation with the court. He
	The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play in which the Red Scare from the 1950's is paralleled to the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. It contains a wonderfully developed plot, which displays society's flaws by establishing a good versus evil scenario. Miller creates characters to fuel the evil and others that evolve to show the outbreak of good. Two of these characters are Reverend Samuel Parris, and Reverend John Hale. These men are the spiritual leaders for two neighboring towns in New England, whom many in the community looked up to. Although the personalities of these "men of God" seemed very similar throughout the first half of the play, self-centered and inhuman, their differences became more evident as Hale evolved into a compassionate man of God, and Parris remained the conceited character he was at the beginning of the play.
Reverend John Hale, from the play “The Crucible”, by Arthur Miller, evolves throughout the story as he faces tests of responsibility and righteousness. When he first comes to the town of Salem, Reverend Hale believes himself to be of the strongest importance because of his education and standing within the Puritan community. In an introductory description at the beginning of the play, it is said that “He feels himself allied with the best minds in Europe... His goal is light, goodness and its preservation, and he knows the exaltation of the blessed whose intelligence, sharpened by minute examinations of enormous tracts, is finally called upon to face what may be a bloody fight with the Fiend himself” (36). This is a good representation of his beliefs that he was superior and his purpose was to fight the Devil at all costs. He also shows no doubt in his skills, or his ability to accurately incriminate witches. A little bit later, Reverend Hale tells Tituba, “You are God’s instrument put in our hands to discover the Devil’s agents among us. You are selected, Tituba, you are chosen to help us
As Dan Shechtman once said “[s]ustainable development requires human ingenuity. People are the most important resource”. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 affect the moral development of the characters, which ultimately affects their beliefs, relationships, and virtues. Reverend Hale is a committed minister who is an expert at witchcraft, and Mary Warren is a meek servant to the Proctor household. Reverend Hale grows righteously strong in The Crucible by modifying his beliefs about the witch trials, whereas Mary Warren declines in moral stature because she is easily influenced by her malicious acquaintances.
Because he is forced to accept that his beliefs have been messed with and realizes that he has sent people to their deaths, he loses faith in the law and questions his faith in God. Arthur Miller put many events into the story and tells about Hale’s mindset. In the middle of Act I, Hale comes and what he is called by the townspeople “The truth seeker”. Hale is called upon to determine what sort of witchcraft is going on. Hale arrives admired by the people who wants him to calm this nonsense of witchcraft down. He understands he being led toward the conclusion of witchcraft by the town’s wrong doings. He also begins to see a weakness in the position of the townspeople of Salem and tries to not let common things be the support for his
He shows to be an intellectual, very knowledgeable, and states that he will get to the bottom of these witch-hunts that are poisoning the townspeople of Salem. In Act 1, Hale is shown that he is, in a way, very excited to show his ways off to the town of Salem and to free the Devil’s hold on the townspeople. He mainly relies on his and in them lie "... all the invisible world, caught defined, and calculated. In these books the Devil stands stripped of all his brute disguises. ... Have no fear now--we shall find him out if he has come among us, and he mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face!" His drive to eliminate all presences of witchcraft in the town is
...ligion is faltered at one point it could point to the Devils work in Salem. Reverend Hale shows religious fervor by showing that no matter what if there is a crack in a religion it should not go unseen. In The Crucible, Reverend Hale best exhibits religious fervor.
Reverend Hale is believed to be a witch hunter of sorts. He believes himself to be a specialist and othe...
The test that Reverend John Hale faces is whether he can change his character early enough to redeem himself for the lives he has caused to be lost. He is the character that shows the most significant transformation overall. When he first comes to Salem, he is eager to find witchcraft and is honored that his scholastic skills are necessary. He feels that as an exorcist, it is his duty to help pe...
Arthur Millers The Crucible possesses many examples of interesting character development. A character who one initially finds to be worthy of mercy or pity can easily become the last person deserving of sympathy. This relationship is not only formed between the reader and the characters, but between the characters and the scenario of the story itself. The victim may become the accuser, or the scholar may become the humanitarian. This manner of characterization is best shown in the relationship between Reverend John Hale and Deputy Governor Danforth. Each is objectified to the events in Salem as they come into the situation with no attachments to any of the other characters and are unfamiliar with any of their mannerisms or personalities. Hale is a well-read minister who relies upon his books. Danforth is a reputable judge who relies on consistent input and prodding. Both of these men enter the trials with very similar goals. The places they stand at the finish, however, could not be more different. This is due to the personal relationships and opinions Hale develops concerning Salem. Reverend Hale is a dynamic character who learns his role as a minister while Judge Danforth is a constant force who voices others opinions through his authority.
When Hale first arrives in Salem, he is utterly committed to God and his beliefs. He sees the Christian religion as “a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small” (67). With this metaphor of Christianity and theology, Miller shows how deeply Hale values his beliefs, and how he views any wavering “cracks in the fortress” as a renunciation of God. His faith caused him to disregard even reason and logic in his thinking. When the court accuses Rebecca Nurse of witchcraft, Hale had little doubt in the validity of it, saying “If Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothing’s left to stop the whole green world from burning” (71). Miller uses this hasty generalization to demonstrate how strongly Hale believes in the courts and in God’s power to bring justice. Hale, upon hearing that the courts accused Rebecca of witchcraft, uses this example of a moral citizen to deem that anyone can come under the power of the devil. By doing so, Hale ignores that fact that Rebecca, like so many of the others accused, has been a pillar of the Salem community for many years and is known to be a moral person. However, as the courts accuse more and more citizens of Salem, these ridiculous accusations cause Hale to waver in his beliefs, which tests his faith in the power of God and all that is good. As John Proctor prepares for his
A crucible is a severe test of patients or belief, a trial. The play The Crucible is a journey through the trials of many townspeople caused by the superstitious belief in witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller progresses and evolves the outlooks and views of the townspeople of Salem and shows how events, people, and catastrophes cause the characters to change their views on whether the people prosecuted were guilty or innocent of witchcraft. Reverend John Hale changes his view, more and more drastically as the play advances, as a result of the events that he underwent and the experiences he had. Soon he had a total belief in the innocence of all those convicted and hung in Salem.
In the past history of the country, People see that fear can persuade them from reality. Fear can blind people from seeing right from wrong. For example,The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a play based on actual events that led to the Salem witch trials. These trials are actual hearings that prosecuted over 150 individuals. These people were charged with the crime of practicing witchcraft. Reverend Hale is a very intellectual man whose morals were persuaded by fear and the church. Hale’s morals changed in the play in three ways, at the beginning he was a witch craft expert who believed in the practice, then he started to doubt the validity of the charges, and by the end of the play, he was a disbeliever of the charges presented to the court.